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One of the big topics last week was the prospect of pushing health reform and cap-and-trade through the reconciliation process. The rec process, as you may know, short-circuits the filibuster and creates a 50-vote Senate. But it also plays havoc with the language and text of your bill. I have a piece today explaining the process and its constraints, and concluding, in part:
Taken as a whole, the uncertainty of the reconciliation process transforms it into a game of chicken: If Republicans refuse to cooperate with health reform and force Democrats to resort to reconciliation, no one knows what will emerge out of the other end. Republicans might have no input, but Democrats will be at the mercy of an obscure bureaucrat's interpretation of an undefined Senate rule. It's the legislative equivalent of deciding a bill on penalty kicks.Much more detail here, including why you really have to blame Robert Byrd for this one.
